You have the freedom to analyze, and you are encouraged to do so, but at some point you have to enter into this world of decidedness. This takes bravery. It’s very scary, because analyzing is like a handrail: it’s a support; it creates security. The rational mind justifies things, and it makes you feel comfortable. Everything is checked. But from there, you have to take this leap.
When you finally decide, “OK, this person is going to be my guru,” it will not delete all your doubt overnight. You have made this decision after a lot of analysis; that doesn’t mean you are without doubt. But your decision is now taking the lead.
It may even be good to tell your prospective guru, “Look, I’ve decided I want to be your student, but at times I will doubt you.” The guru has to understand. If there is a guru who expects you to have no doubt from the time you step through the door, this guru is an idiot. Actually, this guru doesn’t have the ingredients to be a guru.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?
Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Further quotes from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?:
- Celebrity Gurus
- Vajra hell
- The path is practical
- The quest for a guru
- Seeing a student’s potential
- The whole purpose of the outer guru
- Merging with the guru’s mind
- Practicing Dharma requires sacrifice
- Devotion is supreme
- Advice on selecting a guru
- No one can please everyone
- Samsara
- Experience is like a mist in the morning
- Gurus Don’t Fish for Devotion
- Why can’t the Guru be perfect?
- The moment there is devotion
- Beginning to subdue and outshine appearance and existence
- Controlled by circumstances
- Sooner or later, you will have to check